Contributors

Monday, November 10, 2008

Back Home!

It has been an awesome experience at Brown University once more. Being able to meet with

friends both new and old, seeing the campus, exploring the stores, taking part in actual college lectures, seeing the college dorms, and most importantly, getting motivated in my capstone project. I believe that since I was really booked with a lot of work, I did not organize my time to work on my project. I found out that my style of leadership needs to start at a smaller goal and then expand. I was not really clear before on what I wanted to do,but it included the spreading of awareness as well as make donations towards Heifer International, and I hope to still achieve this in due time. Currently though, I have been really inspired by some of my fellow peers in the Symposium to direct help towards schools. I am still not fully sure to what approach I want to take, but I am definitely more aware of this project, and shall not push it away. I want to first look at some schools in need of supplies of some sort, and then I shall try to give what I can though fundraising and donations. I have always wanted to take action and I am determined to do it! So I thank everyone who has given me this opportunity to taking a step forward in achieving one of my goals.

Thank you!

Donna, a freshman at Brown University, as well as a good friend of my sister, seems to be enjoying herself! I was able to visit her, and she generously gave me a tour around the building she is staying in. We also talked about her college life at Brown. She says that the classes are definitely a step higher than high school, and that stress is a big factor. However, it seems that there is a lot of support from friends and she is very happy at where she is. I really gained a good insight on the college life, and it will surely help me out in the future!

When we first arrived, I could not believe the blend of colors! It was so pretty!

The classroom at on the far right was one of the classes I visited. Though the teacher was not there, it was really interesting to see the format of the room.

2 comments:

Thanks so much for posting the picture. It shows your enthusiasm and looks like you were having a wonderful time. Also, thanks for your thoughtful post. I appreciate your looking for ways to direct help towards schools and I am looking forward to seeing the direction you finally choose.

Sounds like the trip proved worthwhile to you and you came away better informed and better educated than when you left. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

I worry that others in our group may face the same problem that you’re facing in that your eyes may have been bigger than your stomach. What I mean is that the youthful idealism we often embrace at your age sooner or later meets the real world where we learn that there’s only so much that we’re capable of doing. We may envision ourselves saving the world but we first need to learn how to save our village first. Sometimes we need to take small steps.

At your age, your life is filled with tons of wonderful activities and there’s only so much time in the day left to save the world. Even when you grow older, there’s only so much we can accomplish with the resources at hand.

As much as we might not want to admit it, sometimes we need to slim down our desires so we can actually accomplish what we set out to do.

One of the bigger problems associated with taking on too large a task is that if we don’t succeed at the level we were hoping, our hopes become diminished and it’s all too easy to become discouraged from taking on other projects.

Also, success fosters success. When others learn of your successes, they may want to hitch their wagon to your train. Partnering up with other leaders can only serve to make you stronger and lead to more success.